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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Journal Entry and a Little About Myself

Well, Tuesday and Wednesday were carbon copies. It felt like my right testicle had a 10 pound weight on it and it was stretching everything inside me pretty severely. In fact, I had to take ibuprofen for the pain. It doesn't help right away, but it does help. The next day, I took two Tylenol. That doesn't help as much, but my cardiologist wants me to take non-ibuprofen products. I still think the pain I have been feeling is due to how I slept that one night. The pain today is finally improved. But it still bothers me intermittently. I haven't had to take any pain medicine today.

To keep the pain away, I think I need to strike a balance of sitting, reclining, walking and standing. Too much of one and not the other seems to be a bad recipe. Also driving is a killer. I don't think it is so much the sitting while I'm driving, so much as it is manipulating the foot pedals with my right leg. Pushing on the brake pedal and then raising my foot up and moving it to the accelerator, and vice-a-versa, seems to cause extreme discomfort and pain. Sometimes when I involve my left leg, it will cause my left groin to start hurting. So driving is not fun.

We have a trip planned in a couple of weeks that involves a 12 hour drive. Not sure how that will work. Hopefully the wife won't mind driving most of it. She seems to be a little more sympathetic towards my syndrome and condition. I think knowing that other people are going through this same thing has really opened her eyes. I think she thought I was being a little whimpy at times when the pain was bad. But after reading some other people's stories, she doesn't seem put off by my sudden episodes of intractable pain. She also doesn't cut the conversation off short when I tell her how I'm feeling. I think the support group has been good for her in an indirect way. I am still hopeful she'll feel comfortable to share her thoughts about this horrid syndrome.

Just so people know that I'm not some crazy dude writing about how bad vasectomies are, let me tell you a little about myself.

I am a respiratory therapist, husband for 15 years and Dad of two kids. I have worked in a hospital setting for over 20 years and pretty much seen it all. I've done CPR on patients who had multiple gunshot wounds, I've pulled the ventilator off of dying cancer patients, there is very little in the world of healthcare that I'm not familiar with or experienced. I even worked a short stint in a well renowned burn unit. It was short because that was too difficult, emotionally.

So when I say that this syndrome is not worth the risk of getting a vasectomy, I really mean it. I am not some alarmist who hates doctors or the healthcare industry. I love the healthcare industry. I was well acquainted with my urologist prior to him performing the ill-fated vasectomy on me. I had treated many of his patients. If he invited me over for Christmas dinner, I'd probably still go and enjoy myself. My problem is with this stinking syndrome and the fact that very little is known about it. I'm also a little mad at the urology community because this pain syndrome is not discussed prior to having the vasectomy.

I can't tell my readers this enough times: don't mess with the plumbing for the sake of sex. There are lots of other zero or low risk alternatives out there. Please consider them and don't have a vasectomy.

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

All I can say is I wish I had taken seriously the various reports of vasectomy pain syndrome and not had my vasectomy last month (July 2011). Like most men, I just focused on what the DR said on at the initial consultation, which was the fertility issue. That was the whole point and my wife & I have zero regrets from that standpoint. It's EVERYTHING ELSE that happens to your body. My DR said I'd be back to working out in a week. Well, it's 3 weeks now and getting in and out of the car is still difficult, let alone walking out to the mailbox! Forget my 1-2 hour workout regimes!! I don't totally blame my urologist because I think he did a normal, competent job (although note he hasn't had a vasectomy himself, nor did the DR who did my older brother's). I think the procedure itself is defective and the medical community isn't aware enough of the negative effects. Now I'm looking at an $8,000 reversal with no guarantee I'll be back to normal. Jay Sandlow's Journal of Andrology article on Post-Vasectomy Pain Syndrome should be required reading as part of the initial consultation instead of urologist's just focusing on the sterilization component.

My Vasectomy Story

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Blogging about Vasectomy Side Effects

Nobody told me there were vasectomy side effects. I have worked in healthcare for over 20 years, and I still didn't know anything about the debilitating problems that hit 1 in 10 men who get a vasectomy. This blog is my journal to help me keep track of pain, symptoms and to express my unbelief at what was supposed to be a simple, uncomplicated procedure. Please read it carefully before deciding on whether you'll have a vasectomy.